Health care options for young, healthy & broke

WASHINGTON (AP) - They're young, healthy and flat broke - and now the government says they have to buy thousands of dollars' worth of medical insurance. What should tapped-out twentysomethings do?

Wildland firefighters win federal health benefits

Episcopal Church approves same-sex blessing

Nation news briefs

TEXAS SWITCHES TO 1-DRUG EXECUTION DUE TO SHORTAGE: DALLAS (AP) - Texas, the nation's most active death penalty state, announced Tuesday that it would become the latest to switch to single-drug executions amid a drug shortage that has left states scrambling for acceptable alternatives.

Strip club sues 'Octomom' for cancelled shows

NYC rally: The Million Big Gulp March

New York may go smaller with 300-square-foot apartment units

Firefighters gain ground but struggle in Idaho

4 suspects linked to Fast and Furious

Obama: Tax cuts for families under $250K

Nation news briefs

AT&T DROPS LEGAL FIGHT OVER MASS. MAN'S $1M BILL: IPSWICH, Mass. (AP) - AT&T Inc. says it's dropping its legal fight against a Massachusetts businessman whose company was on the hook for a fraudulent million-dollar phone bill.

Mom questions how daughter shot during hug

NY man nears 3 millionth mile in beloved '66 Volvo

More public schools splitting up boys, girls; national count up to at least 500 schools

MIDDLETON, Idaho (AP) - Robin Gilbert didn't set out to confront gender stereotypes when she split up the boys and girls at her elementary school in rural southwestern Idaho.

Studies nix report of arsenic-loving bacteria

NEW YORK (AP) - It was a provocative finding: strange bacteria in a California lake that thrived on something completely unexpected - arsenic. What it suggested is that life, a very different kind of life, could possibly exist on some other planet.

Commander cites 'rot' in nuke force

Teen charged with homicide by assault in soccer ref death

Man charged with rape, kidnapping

Nation news briefs

Police facing questions in 3 women's rescue

Intel worker subjected to 'Kick Me' prank

Internet sales tax bill faces tough sell

Christie has weight-loss surgery

Late-payment rate on mortgages fall

Home signs warn of presence of predators

Delaware now 11th state with gay marriage

Gun homicides down 39% since 1990s

FBI says raid disrupts planned terror attack

SEC: Harrisburg, misled investors

Prosecutor weighs charges in soccer ref death